Venom
by Wayward
Summary: Bombshell's old rival Venom is back for vengeance on the Insecticons... except that Bombshell, Shrapnel, and Kickback don't actually remember him...
1. Venom, chapter one

**Venom: Chapter One**

       "So, you finally decided to come hopping back, eh?"

       Kickback gave Bombshell a playful shove as he stepped out of the Cybertron-Coleop space-bridge.  Sway simply shifted to dragonfly-mode and took off towards the Hive.  "I got Ripsaw's crew settled in, got caught in Megatron's biggest scheme-backfire to date, and babysat a human's offspring for a time.  More than _you_ ever do."

       While Bombshell did have many jobs around the Hive, for the moment he had little to do.  The Hive had enough people, so he wasn't required to rework coleop shells.  He and Shrapnel used to do most of the maintenance, but there were others to do it now.  Currently, Bombshell spent most of his time giving the Insecticon Queen Coronapis lessons in psychology.

       Despite her title, Coronapis didn't actually lead the Insecticons.  Instead, she was their Vector Sigma, giving life and personalities to the reworked coleop shells.  She was also effectively immobile; her great termite-like tail tied her to the Hive itself.  Not that she lacked for company; Shrapnel and Bombshell spent time teaching her things that the Hive's computers couldn't tell her ( things that required experience rather than simple book-learning, ) and other Insecticons would go to her if they just wanted someone to talk to.

       The weevil shoved him back.  "I'm putting up with _you_, and that's a job in itself.  What's all this?"

       "Stuff," Kickback shrugged.  "Assorted equipment from Cybertron.  I made sure to get a personal subspace generator for you to play with.  Maybe you can figure out how to duplicate it, instead of having to weasel them away from the Decepticons."

       Kickback shifted to grasshopper mode in preparation to fly away.  Bombshell stepped in front of him.  "Where are you off to?"

       "Relax.  I got the report written; Sway's dropping it off."  The dragonfly was faster than he was.  "Then we're going morphobot hunting."

       "And _what_ am I supposed to do with this stuff?"

       "Not _my_ problem," said Kickback cheerfully.  "Bye."

* * *

       "Opening boxes is _not_ warrior's work."

       "Neither is sitting around doing nothing," Blight reminded her, cheerfully ripping open another container.  The inventory work was Kickback's fault; having abandoned Bombshell to deal with the shipment, Bombshell decided to declare all the techs busy and get a couple of the grasshopper's warriors to do it for him.  "This one's got spanners.  Phooey; I was hoping for something edible."

       The bee gave the locust a disapproving glance, more at her carelessness than at her words.  Darkside located the proper lock mechanism on the box and opened it.  "That one has dust," said Blight happily when a puff of black powder got Darkside in the face.  

       "Looks more like computer chips," Darkside said, closing the box and setting it carefully aside.

       "Ooh, a _big_ one!  I claim the big one!" sang the locust, already digging her claws into the metal hinges and setting a foot against it for leverage.

       Darkside smacked Blight's hands.  "Oh, go away.  The way you're ripping into things, you're liable to damage them."

       "Picky-picky," Blight taunted once her hands were safe, though her grin never left her face.  "I'll go see if Fracas or Devourer want to do some training exercises or something and leave you to your inventory work.  I know when I'm not wanted."  At the door, she turned and paused dramatically.  "And if one of those boxes happens to contain something edible, I _shant_ forgive you!"

       The locust giggled and ducked out when Darkside threw an empty box at her.

* * *

       "After all that, hmm, strangeness on Earth, I'm surprised we stay with the Decepticons."

       "We like them," said Kickback.  "Entertainment value, mostly."  It was four days later.  He and Sway were sitting back to back on a low hill, arms loosely intertwined, looking out over the expanse of forest.

       Sway sighed.  "Kickback, they're all crazy."

       "Crazy," said Kickback agreeably, not really paying attention to the conversation.  He settled himself a bit more comfortably against Sway and realised, with a feeling too serene to be surprise, that he was happy.  The day was bright, the breeze was warm, and, strangely, he wasn't _doing_ anything.  He couldn't stand idleness, but here he was, wasting the day, lounging around with his best friend, and enjoying every minute of it.

       Feeling him relax, Sway asked, "Mm, what are you thinking about?"

       He disentangled his arms, but only so he could turn and wrap them around her midsection.  He rested his chin on her shoulder and asked, playfully, "Do you _really_ want to know?"

       Sway twisted so she could look him in the visor: "Yes."

       It took a second for it to sink in that she was serious.  And, with a not-unpleasant shock, Kickback realised that he was, too.  He let her go, then moved around to sit in front of her, taking up one of her hands.  "You _do_ realise how big a step this is?"

       "Mm-hmm, of course," chided Sway, catching his chin in her free hand and drawing him forward so their foreheads touched.  She smirked then, mischief behind her yellow optics: "Aren't you, hmm, worried I might bite your head off?"

       "I probably won't even notice," he teased quietly.  Kickback wondered idly why he wasn't nervous; he _was_ by nature very private, and here he was, about to let his mental walls down and allow another person to share his thoughts and memories, let someone into his soul, and not worried about it at all.  _But then, why should I be worried?_ he questioned.  This was _Sway_; he didn't need to shield himself from her.  It was the most natural thing in the world to be with her, relaxed, open to her and to himself…

       Something twisted inside Kickback, and he drew back with an incoherent cry, feeling his mental barriers snap back into place like they were physical things.  Sway reeled, hurt and angry, but gathered herself and softened a bit when she saw Kickback curled on the ground, hands over his head: "No, no, no, no…"

       She touched one of his wings to get his attention: "Kickback?"

       "S-sorry…" he managed after a minute, forcibly stopping the tremors that wracked his form.  He looked up at her, face open but mind closed.  "I… can't go through with it.  Sorry."

       "Shh.  Your secrets are your own.  I'm just as happy to be your friend as your, hmm, companion."

       "Thanks.  Thanks, Sway."

       Time passed, silently, uncomfortably, but neither left for fear of offending the other, or hurting them worse.  This was how Bombshell found them twenty minutes later: Kickback, resting his arms on his knees and his chin on his arms; Sway, looking in the opposite direction, one knee jack-knifed, her tail curled over her toes; neither saying a word, but obviously wanting to.  Obvious, at least, if you were Bombshell.

       He unfolded to robot-mode, startling Kickback.  "What do _you_ want?"

       Choosing to ignore the obvious situation, Bombshell simply stated his business: "Have you noticed people acting strangely lately?"

       "I've been busy since I got back from Earth," retorted Kickback.  "Why?  What's happening?"

       Bombshell shrugged.  "I can't explain it – it's just a… feeling."  He paused, then said, "I was heading to the space-bridge.  I think there's a problem with it."

       Grateful for the distraction, Kickback agreed to go with him.  Sway nodded a curt good-bye, and headed back to the Hive.  The two Insecticons shifted to their insect-modes, and flew the rest of the way to the space-bridge.

       Kickback landed and shifted, looking around.  "There's supposed to be a guard here, just to monitor the bridge."

       "So that's why I wasn't getting an answer."  Bombshell went to the control panel and started tapping keys.  "I wanted the shipping manifesto.  A couple of boxes vanished and no one knows what happened to them."

       "Maybe you miscounted."

       "Didn't.  There were twenty-three, and I helped carry them.  Blight and Darkside did the inventory, and you know how conscientious Darkside is…"  Bombshell trailed off, then hit the control panel.  "The console isn't working.  Why wasn't this reported?"

       The grasshopper crouched on the ring of the space-bridge and peered down.  "Because no one was here to report it?"

       "That's not helpful, Kickback."  He took off the front panel.  "Ugh.  It's been corroded…  Wait…  No, everything's intact."  The weevil withdrew his hand and scowled at the black dust on it.  "Looks like someone poured iron filings into the works.  Hmph, I'll have to call Cybertron directly and ask what they sent…  Who's our contact again?"

       "Lightray, Monitor of the Second Sector.  Don't worry; he's not as stuck-up as some of the Decepticons."  Kickback grinned: "Actually, he thinks Insecticons are the cutest little things."

       Bombshell chuckled.  "So much for the Decepticons ever taking us seriously.  Nuts – The space-bridge radio is non-functional and ours aren't strong enough to reach.  We'll have to go back to the Hive to call Cybertron."

* * *

       Shrapnel had no idea that anyone had any plans to ruin his day until he found himself face-first against the wall of a corridor.  He tried to twist to see his attacker, but the only response was a cruel tightening on his arms, enough to make the metal creak.

       There were footsteps, and Shrapnel was yanked around to face three Insecticons – a bee and two beetles.  The beetles he had seen around before, but the bee…

       The bee spoke: "Shrapnel.  I am Venom."  He paused, then: "Yes, _that_ Venom."

       It was obviously supposed to mean something, but all Shrapnel had was a vague feeing of _déjà vu_.  The name was familiar, and the voice, but the body was wrong.  _And how do I know that?_ Shrapnel demanded of himself.  Unfortunately, his mind didn't answer.  Within himself, Shrapnel shrugged and asked: "Who _are_ you, are you?"

       Whoever was holding Shrapnel sniggered behind him.  Venom's visor darkened angrily.  The two beetles remained impassive.  "Venom!" shouted the bee.  "The true leader of the…" he trailed off with an angry sound, visibly clamping down on his emotions.  "You honestly don't remember."

       "Nope, nope," agreed Shrapnel.  He might have had no idea what was going on, but it _obviously_ bothered Venom that he didn't know who he was, so he pounced on it.  Of course, his memories prior to being an Insecticon were patchy at best ( Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Kickback's memory circuits were all-but erased due to the heavy damage they suffered when their escape pod crashed on Earth, and their repair-protocols computer turned them into the first Insecticons, ) and they were more complete than the memories of the other two.

       Apparently, Shrapnel should have recognised Venom, which meant he probably knew him back on Cybertron, when he – when they _both_ were Decepticons proper.  It would have helped if Shrapnel could remember just who he was up against, but he didn't, so he didn't dwell on it.  One thing he was absolutely certain of – a takeover would never succeed.  Coleop was a world of Insecticons, and it was easier to herd cats than to lead Insecticons.

       Shrapnel decided to ask the question he was most curious about: "Why would you _want_ to lead the Insecticons, cons?"

       "Because," said Venom, "they are by rights mine.  And, just to make sure you don't try anything…  Chopshop?"

       The copper stag beetle stepped forward, opened a panel on Shrapnel's torso, and removed his radio before he could so much as protest.  Shrapnel wasn't mute now – he still had his vocaliser – but he could only speak out loud, rather than use distance communication.

       Venom nodded; Shrapnel's thoughts were obvious.  "And without your radio, you can't control your clone armies."

       "Maybe I should snap his antennae… just to be on the safe side," said the one holding Shrapnel.

       "None of that, Ransack.  We need him as a hostage," Venom chastised.  "Now throw him in the brig."

       Shrapnel squirmed a bit in a futile effort to get away from his captor.  "Are you going to tell me your plan, plan?"

       "No, I don't think so."

* * *

       Ransack plodded back into the lab, where Venom had set up his office.  "I put him away.  _Without_ damaging him," he added, knowing Venom would ask.

       "Excellent.  There are some who are immune to the Swarm for one reason or another," said Venom, handing Ransack a small compad.  "Destroy these ones, but bring the last alive."

       The locust skimmed the eight names before tucking the compad away in a compartment in his gauntlet.  "Not the other Cybertronian Insecticons?"

       "No.  They are true robots and thus immune, but I have other uses for them.  Just those eight."  Venom turned as Ransack started out.  "Be as messy as you please, but be quick about it."

* * *

       "Kickback!  Bombshell!"

       The two turned at the voice and waited for Blight to catch up.  "Come quick!  There's something happening in the Hive – a rebellion or something.  Darkside's in there someplace… please, you have to help her!"

       "Slow down, Blight," Bombshell instructed.  "What's going on?"

       The locust hopped back and forth impatiently.  "I don't know!  _I don't know!_  I barely escaped myself, then I saw you two…"

       "Sway went back to the Hive.  Did you see her there?" asked Kickback.  _If there's a fight, she'll be in the middle of it…  And if she's in danger because I drove her away…_

       "Didn't see her; wasn't looking," said Blight.  "Come _on_ – can't we talk while we fly?"

       "_I_ can," said Kickback, taking to the air.  Bombshell followed.

       The three skimmed low over the forest for a few minutes, then: "Hold up; I see something."  Despite Blight's protests for speed and his own desire to get back, Kickback banked and landed next to what had caught his attention.  Bombshell and Blight found him crouched down, robot-mode, in the middle of a mess that had been an Insecticon.  "It's Bluewing…  I think.  Concussion-blast wounds, then torn apart.  Not many of our people are strong enough to do that…  They might have teamed up, but I doubt it."

       "The trees around here aren't damaged," said Bombshell, twisting into robot-mode.  "Sneak attack?"

       Kickback shook his head.  "The blast-marks are on the front of the body.  Still, none of us really expect to be attacked by a fellow Insecticon.  The attacker got close enough not to miss, disabled Bluewing with the blaster – only his limbs show blast-marks – then got in close to terminate him physically."  He stood, carefully stepping away from the body, still regarding it regretfully.  "We're dealing with a sicko here.  Once we deal with whatever's happening at the Hive, Bombshell, I'll get you a list of those who had the ability to do this, and you can do your voodoo to figure out which one did it."

       "Got it.  Let's get…"  Bombshell stopped, feeling the rifle pressed into his back.  "Blight?"

       "Among others," agreed Blight as five more Insecticons stepped from the forest.  "Come along quietly; we don't want to damage you, but we will if you resist."

       "That sounds fair," said Bombshell.  His cannon-turret suddenly swivelled around and fired, leaving the locust reeling at the impact of the cerebro-shell embedding itself in her forehead.

       Kickback used the distraction to knock the nearest Insecticon away and pull his rifle out of subspace to cover the others.  "What is going on here?  Blast it, I _know_ all of you!  Why are you doing this?"

       "Our leader wants your capture," said one – Scattershot, a dragonfly.

       "Who?  Shrapnel?"

       "Shrapnel has already been incarcerated," said Scattershot, inclining his head slightly.

       The grasshopper caught the movement, and managed to dodge one of Lash's whips.  He rolled to his feet as Bombshell fired his own rifle at the ichneumon fly, singeing her armour, knocking her back… _and hopefully not causing any lasting damage,_ Kickback added.  These were _his_ warriors, _his_ people, and he was certain that this little rebellion wasn't their doing.

       Bombshell drew his own rifle and fired at Scattershot, but missed when his aim was thrown off by Blight tackling him from behind.  The other still-standing Insecticons saw this as their opportunity to attack – though fortunately for Kickback, they were trying to capture rather than destroy.

       The weevil managed to free his hands and rifle from Blight, and hit the switch that would overload the weapon.  He calculated the distance, then threw it into the air – close enough for a blinding flash, but too far to cause appreciable damage.  In the confusion, he scooped up Blight under one arm, and dragged Kickback into the air.

       Ten minutes later, Bombshell decided they weren't being followed, and landed.  By now, Kickback and Blight's vision had cleared.  Blight was struggling, but Bombshell was stronger than her.  He sat the locust on the ground, and under her protests, yanked her radio wires.  "There. You can't summon any reinforcements."

       Kickback crouched by their captive: "Now then, Blight, I know you.  You're not the uprising type.  You're not the 'our leader wants your capture' type, either.  If we got back to the Hive, we'd have been ambushed, wouldn't we?  What's _really_ going on?"

       The locust sullenly looked away.  Kickback sighed.  "Bombshell?.."

       "She's somehow resisting my control," said Bombshell.  "She'd never have tackled me otherwise.  I've got a bit of a link, though very weak…"

       "Do what you have to short of hurting her," said Kickback.  Blight was a bit of a bubblehead, but she was also completely incapable of mutiny.  It wasn't _her_.

       Bombshell didn't want to damage any innocent Insecticon either, but answers were needed.  He turned up the power in the link – it felt like most of it was being absorbed by something, or piling against a dam, and only the slightest trickle actually reached the locust.  She reeled under the mental pressure, even if it was blunted.  "What happened to the Insecticons, Blight?"

       "Box…" said Blight, though whether she was fighting to tell him or fighting to stay silent, Bombshell couldn't tell.  "Darkside…  Not computer chips…  Personality component…"

       "Whose?"

       "From Cybertron…  Had to make a new body…  _Had to_…"

       The mental pressure was getting too high.  Bombshell would have to stop the interrogation soon or break her.  "Why did you have to?"

       "The Swarm," whispered Blight.  "Venom…"

* * *

       Sway found the torn shell in the practice arena.  It was Fracas – Sway had spoken to her not five minutes ago; the mantis was the one who suggested the sparring match.  _At least,_ Sway thought, _it was fast._  Fracas' face still held a look of indignant surprise, though one shoulder was slightly crushed and most of her chest was spread on the floor behind her…  _She was grabbed, then shot point-blank.  By someone rather large… and whom she wasn't fond of,_ her mind added ghoulishly, taking in the mantis' expression.

       The proper thing to do would be to alert Kickback – Fracas was one of the warrior caste, and Kickback was more-or-less in charge of them – but Sway didn't really want to deal with him just yet.  Besides, Fracas was her friend, Sway was a perfectly good investigator, and the thought of venting her frustrations on whoever destroyed the mantis was _very_ appealing…

       Still, she _ought_ to inform Kickback, just for protocol…

       The call was never made; Sway's thoughts scattered at a sound behind her.  Without thinking, she took the spear from one of her gauntlets, extending it and turning in the same motion.  She didn't care who it was – the sound was a chuckle.

       Ransack stood by the door, concussion blaster at the ready, and conveying a predatory smile despite his lack of features.  "You're number eight."

       Sway jumped aside before the weapon could fire, and the blast tore harmlessly into the floor.  Deep in her chest, she started humming – a low-level sonic vibration that she used to rattle her opponents – and settled back into an attack-ready stance.  "You are the one who, hmm, killed Fracas?"

       "Rush job, I know, but I had to get it done before you showed up.  And humming doesn't do anything to me," said Ransack, twisting into his insect form.  "I'm _built_ for sonic vibrations."  The locust rubbed his back legs together, setting up a sound like shearing metal.  It _almost_ covered the fact that the wall behind Sway _was_ crumbling.  She noticed it and jumped aside as Ransack shifted back to his robot-mode.

       "Monster.  Hmm, you may have destroyed Fracas, but she was better than you."  Sway took flight, then dove, using her weight and momentum to drive her spear through Ransack's wing, pinning him to the wall.  He clubbed her aside with his blaster before she could attack again.

       Ransack pulled the spear from his wing, snapped it in half with one hand, and the light of his optic band conveyed a grin.  The others had been really too easy.  He dropped his concussion blaster and took on a fighter's stance – he wanted this battle to last.

       In a practiced motion, Sway detached the other spear from her gauntlet, and slashed outwards as it extended, cutting a deep gash in Ransack's leg.  She rolled aside and to her feet before the locust could bring his fists down on her.

       She was fast, but she wasn't very strong… not that it would have mattered against Ransack.  As Sway slashed at him again, the locust extended his arm as if to block the blade, letting it cut deep into his hand.  It stuck just long enough to yank the dragonfly into his crushing embrace.

       Sway struggled, but Ransack was too large and too strong.  He broke her arms first, cracking the joints so the limbs hung useless.  When she half-shifted and tried to bite him, the locust grabbed her head and forced it back around to its robot-mode.

       He slammed her into the wall and let her collapse, and this time she didn't get up; Sway's internal repair system had kicked in and knocked her into stasis-mode.

       Ransack lifted a foot to grind the life out of the dragonfly, but remembered his orders and picked her up instead.

* * *

       "Good.  Put her on the table so I can begin repairs."

       The locust did as he was asked, but didn't leave.  "What do you want her for?"

       Venom selected a few tools from a case and began to patch up the worst of the damage on Sway.  "I'll be using her against the grasshopper.  Once the repairs are complete, I'll give her back into your tender mercies for you to destroy as slowly as you please – with Kickback right there, of course.  If that doesn't crack his calm exterior, nothing will."

       Ransack nodded absently.  Not that Ransack cared, but Venom would be spitting mad if he found out that this fit nicely into the locust's own plans.

* * *

       "'Venom'?" asked Kickback after Blight slipped into a repair-cycle.  "Are the Insecticons being controlled through some type of poison?"

       "It's a name," said Bombshell.

       Kickback gave him a strange look.  "What makes you so sure?"

       "We knew a 'Venom' back on Cybertron.  He…  He was…  _Gahhh!_  I should _remember_ this!" shouted Bombshell, slamming his fist into his palm.  "I'll think about it later.  Move over; Blight resisted my cerebro-shell, and I want to know how."  With that, he crouched by the locust and opened up a panel on her helmet.

       First he switched a few wires around so she would stay in stasis until sorted out.  After a few minutes, he removed his cerebro-shell, but instead of silver, it looked almost black.  "It got covered in this dusty stuff; it barely touched her circuitry," said Bombshell.  "Wait…  This is the same stuff that was in the space-bridge control panel!"

       "Black dust?"  Kickback touched the cerebro-shell, then rubbed his fingers together.  The stuff gritted like sand.

       Bombshell looked closely at the dust on his hand.  "I'd need a microscope to be sure, but I think these things are nano-machines – the 'Swarm' that Blight mentioned.  Nano-machines that get into your circuitry and make you do Venom's bidding.  Obviously you and I are immune, but it's not going to do us a lot of good."  He sat back on his heels, considering.  "I wonder if others are immune…  Bluewing, maybe…"

       "And they killed him for it?"  The grasshopper laughed shortly.  "Itty-bitty machines.  No wonder they made sure to capture Shrapnel first – he might have destroyed them with his electronic-control powers, if he knew about them before they spread too far.  I hope he's all right…"  Then, "Could we duplicate his power?"

       "Maybe, if I could get the equipment – which I can't because it's in the Hive and we're out here," said Bombshell.

       "We need a way to sneak in…"

       "He'll be expecting that.  I don't know why I know that…  But I _should_ know!" yelled Bombshell, almost hopping with fury.  "My Decepticon past can't be completely erased if I remember Venom!  It's _there_, but I can't access it!"

       Kickback absently closed the panel in Blight's head.  "You're the psychology expert, Bombshell.  How would you pull this type of thing out of someone else?"

       "Depends on if I'm doing it the nice way or not," said Bombshell.  "Nice way involves a lot of talking and can take months, even if you were qualified.  Not-nice way involves cerebro-shells or plugging my victim into a mind-scanning machine – which we don't have access to."

       The Insecticons fell silent, each lost in his own thoughts.  Eventually the grasshopper looked up.  "Could a cerebro-shell be used _both_ ways?  I know you get feedback if they're destroyed."

       Bombshell managed to look insulted.  "The actual control part is one way, of course.  Why would I allow the chance for my victim to control _me_?"  Then, thoughtful: "Are Shrapnel and Coronapis bonded?"

       "How should _I_ know?" snapped Kickback.  "And why would it matter?"

       "Touchy-touchy.  I thought maybe Coronapis might have access to parts of Shrapnel's mind that Shrapnel himself didn't, memories he couldn't remember," said Bombshell.  But then, they wouldn't be able to reach the Queen or Shrapnel in any case.  Still, it was an intriguing idea…  Bonding opened the mind completely, allowing the other complete access to every thought, every memory, every emotion, tying the souls permanently together.  Bombshell had never been close enough to anyone to want that kind of connection, and it was a safe bet that close-mouthed Kickback wouldn't be either, no matter what he and Sway had between them…  Still, it gave him another idea…

       "What if we linked minds, Kickback?  I can look for your latent Decepticon memories in an attempt to get mine to resurface.  It's dangerous if you're not gestalt, but with my psychological training, I should be able to keep us separate."

       The grasshopper stood and assumed a warrior's stance.  "I don't want you running around in my head!"

       "Good.  That will help keep our personalities separate.  Besides, I don't see _you_ coming up with any bright ideas," snapped Bombshell as he shifted to match Kickback.

       "Venom's real power comes from the Swarm.  If we could take control of it…"

       "We can't – not without Shrapnel.  Neither of us have his electrical control powers.  _And_ we don't know enough about the Swarm to attack its weak points, nor can I find any without the use of my lab," finished Bombshell.  "The Swarm-possessed are immune to cerebro-shells.  Venom probably is, too.  A physical fight would be us two and whoever else is immune – if they haven't been exterminated – against the rest of the Insecticons – most of whom we'd rather not harm."  Kickback scowled at him.  Bombshell gave him an inquiring look.  "Don't you trust me?"

       "I don't want you in my mind."  It wasn't that Kickback had any dark secrets ( at least, none he remembered, ) it was simply that despite his outward openness, he was an intensely private person.  Certainly he could pal around with pretty much anyone, and there were even a few whom he considered friends – Bombshell was reasonably certain that he himself fell in the latter category – but Kickback wasn't actually _close_ to anyone.

       And, he realised, despite working with the grasshopper for years, sharing food and danger, he really didn't know all that much about him.  Bombshell wondered if he ever did, even before they became Insecticons.  Probably not.  The next question was if Sway had ever managed to get through to him.  _Again,_ thought Bombshell, recalling the uncomfortable silence he walked in on, _probably not._  The two were alike in many ways, but the dragonfly expressed her true emotions, instead of covering them with an outward cheer.

       "Kickback, this is no time to get prudish…" started Bombshell, exasperated.

       Kickback turned on him, poking a clawed finger at his chest.  "_You_ listen…"

       The mini-cannon on Bombshell's head fired once, embedding a cerebro-shell in the grasshopper's forehead.  Kickback was almost as good as he was at summing up people and their intentions, so Bombshell simply didn't give him a chance to.

       After a quick look around, Bombshell let himself sink into Kickback's memories.

* * *

       Flight was _glorious_!

       He dodged, he zipped, he wove through the towering spires of Cybertron.  There was pursuit, but it only made the flight more thrilling.  Besides, none could follow him, not if he didn't want them to.  He was far too quick, far too clever, for he was Kickback, and none were his equal…

       Something behind Kickback's optics cringed at every near-collision with the cityscape, tried to slow down the frantic pace, then mentally cursed itself for a novice.  For _he_ was Bombshell, and he was living one of Kickback's Decepticon memories.

       Now that his own identity was established, Bombshell found he could distance himself, like watching a dream.  However, it was a dream he had little control over; Bombshell could skip forward and backward, but had no idea how much there was of it or how useful it could be.  What he wanted to find were Kickback's memories of him ( Bombshell that is, ) which would hopefully trigger his own circuits.

       Kickback banked suddenly to come to a graceful landing in front of a ruin of a building.  As it turned out, the ruin was only a front; once inside, the building was modern.  Bombshell paused the memory in curiousity as his host turned to preen in front of a reflective wall – The face that looked back was different from the Insecticon he knew.  On the whole, Kickback-the-Decepticon was a creature akin to the war-jets, all sharp lines and angles.  _And,_ thought Bombshell with a chuckle, _it seems he never lost his vain streak._

       The weevil let the memory resume, watching through his friend's eyes as he walked the too-large corridors.  Soon the black Decepticon came to a conference room of sorts.  Two others were there – Shrapnel, and ( here Bombshell had to think for a minute, curious at the sudden swell of emotion from Kickback ) Rebound.

       Decepticon subgroups tended to be threes or fives, and the Insecticons ( _No, not 'Insecticons',_ thought Bombshell.  _But what?  What?_ ) were no exception.  They were five, but two – Tumult and Rebound – were destroyed when their escape pod crashed on Earth.

       "I come bearing information."

       Within himself, Bombshell jumped, but settled when he remembered the voice was Kickback's.  It was a strange feeling to be reliving another's life, and even stranger when the body that you feel is yours begins speaking of its own accord.

       Rebound looked up from where he was fiddling with a smallish device.  "I'd rather you came bearing a heat-sink coil."  Bombshell felt Kickback's mouth twitch into a grin, and he took in Rebound with a clinical gaze.  He knew the Decepticon's name and form, but Bombshell realised he might as well have been looking at a stranger.  Rebound was thin and angular; a different make than Kickback, but obviously possessed of a flight-form.  His voice was quiet, almost soft, with a faint accent on the sibilants.

       As for the other, it was hard to ignore the spines that arched from his back.  There were four of them rather than two, but the similarity was there.  He looked up from where he was leaning over Rebound's shoulder.  "Wait for the others to arrive, arrive."  If Bombshell didn't know him before, he did now.  Shrapnel made a face, and added, "You know how Venom likes to be the first to hear anything, thing."

       Kickback matched the expression of distaste.  "Bit late for that; _I_ already know it."  There was a sudden clatter in the hallway and Kickback whirled to meet it, but relaxed as another small, purple robot bounced in.  "_Must_ you be so noisy?"

       "Indeedy-do," agreed Tumult happily.  Where Rebound was thin, Tumult was a stocky creature with rounded wings like a beetle's shell.  Unlike a beetle, there were spines or turrets bristling from them.  He would probably look like a flying pincushion when he transformed.  "What's the party?  Don't tell me _I_ beat the headshrinker here."

       "Just because I'm not in the room doesn't mean I'm not in the base."

       To Bombshell's annoyance, Kickback barely wasted a glance on the last speaker, being more interested in watching Rebound's work.  The weevil backed up the memory so he could take a look at himself.

       He didn't seem much different.  Cannon on the shoulder rather than mounted on his head, something that looked like treads on his legs, but Bombshell instantly recognised himself.  Still, it was… eerie.  He tried desperately to place himself in the situation, to trigger his own memories, but nothing came, not even Tumult's silly nickname for him.  Perhaps his recollection of this particular meeting was destroyed in the crash.

       Resigned, Bombshell settled back to ride out the memory, and watched as he and the other… pre-Insecticons made small talk or bickered depending on their temperament ( Rebound. There was something important about Rebound… )  He was about to give up and start a more active search when a sixth Decepticon entered the room.  Venom.  "Are all the Sabocons present?"

       "We are, are."

       Bombshell felt Kickback's face click into a rigid mask, shutting away his emotions.  However, behind his optics, Bombshell could feel his distaste for the green and orange Decepticon who had just entered.  He filed the thought away to examine it later; was Kickback always like this, with a wall around himself, or was it a developed skill to defend against Venom?

       He turned back to the immediate task of trying to find information on Venom.  If Kickback's feelings were any indication, Venom was not liked.  He wasn't even a proper Sabocon ( _'Sabocon'?  As in 'sabotage'?_  Bombshell nodded to himself; they were certainly suited for it ) if his colours were any indication.  He was their liaison with the army – Kickback's mind knew this.

       This was Venom, then.  Perhaps fifteen feet tall, all green and orange over silver.  He had wings and a roundish body.  Unfortunately, he all-but lacked a face, and Kickback carefully avoided looking at even that, even when he was addressed directly: "Have you the information?"

       "Of course," said Kickback, his own optics fixed on the Decepticon insignia on Venom's chest.  Suddenly Bombshell felt a wave of disgust roll through him, then realised the feeling was Kickback's.  Forgot 'not liked'; Kickback _hated_ Venom.  However, he wasn't looking at any of the others, so Bombshell couldn't read their expressions.  As Kickback launched into a terse account of Autobot energy shipments, Bombshell tried to remember hearing the report.  If he did, his own memory circuits might kick in and he could access his own, professional, appraisal on Venom.

       Kickback crossed the room to the computer console and called up a map of the city.  As the routes were filled in, Bombshell suddenly felt things click into place.  Hanging onto the image of the map, Bombshell extracted himself from Kickback's mind and started searching his own.

* * *

       The weevil shook his head in a useless effort to clear the static.  Bombshell then looked over at the grasshopper, and released the control.

       Bombshell was suddenly glad that he all but lacked a neck, because Kickback's fingers were at his throat and seeking purchase before the discharged cerebro-shell had hit the ground.  Bombshell was the stronger of the two, however, and managed to break the warrior's grip and pin him on his back.

       He was the more skilled fighter, but Kickback wasn't thinking, still trying to get his claws into Bombshell.  "You… you back-stabbing, no-account… _weevil_!"

       "I did what I had to, and I have the information I needed about Venom.  Now settle down!"

       Kickback had no interest in settling down, but he calmed himself with an effort, clamping down on his emotions.  If the situation were less serious, Bombshell might have tried to stop him.  Minutes later, he regarded the weevil through cold optics.  "I'm going to remember this, Bombshell."

       "I've got a plan," said Bombshell.  "You're going to hate it, too."

       "Thanks.  What is it?"

       "We have to get captured."

       The grasshopper scowled.  "We just went though the bother of _not_ getting captured," he grumbled.  "Still, it should be easy enough; Scattershot and the others have probably alerted Venom about our escape."

       "Even easier," corrected Bombshell.  "I've got Blight's radio.  I'll set the homing beacon on it, to make it seem like she's signalling for help."

       Within twenty minutes, a tree crashed down beside the two, a copper stag beetle by the severed stump.  He twisted into his robot-mode.  "Surrender," he suggested.

       "I don't care what you want – I intend on putting up a fight first," snarled Kickback, addressing them both.  He sprang at Chopshop, but was hit mid-flight by a sonic blast, and crashed to a stop at Ransack's feet.

       "He wants them unharmed," hissed Chopshop.

       Barrage stepped out of the forest.  "He still functions," he said simply, rifle now aimed at Bombshell.

       "You're all being controlled by Venom's nano-machines," said Bombshell.  _Can't hurt, might help…_

       "_We_ aren't," Chopshop said.  He slung Blight over his shoulder with a shrug.  "Barrage, Ransack, bring them."

       "A pity," Kickback heard Ransack whisper as his internal repair system pushed him into stasis.  "Your dragonfly put up a better fight than you did."

       _To be continued…_


	2. Venom, chapter two

**Venom: Chapter Two**

       "They have Sway!  Those traitors have Sway!"  Kickback danced from one foot to the other in his frustration.  He could handle almost any situation… except helplessness.  Being locked up did _not_ make the grasshopper happy.  Being repaired by his captors would have made him wary, but he was too angry to think about it.  "If those lunatics have hurt her…"

       "Calm down, Kickback, kickback.  Hopping isn't going to help her."

       Kickback stopped hopping and instead paced the cell, kicking the walls when he reached them, before turning sharply on his heel and starting the other way.  For reasons that Shrapnel and Kickback couldn't guess, but that Bombshell had a good idea of, Venom had thrown the three Insecticons into the same cell.

       Eventually, Shrapnel looked up.  "Stop that too, that too.  We need to think.  What do we know of these traitors, traitors?"

       "The beetle, the scarab, and the locust are mine, of the warrior caste," said Kickback, stopping sharply.  "Chopshop, Barrage, and Ransack.  All three are obsessive: Chopshop's a kleptomaniac, Barrage will shoot a target until it's dust, and Ransack will level a forest to catch one coleop."

       The weevil mulled that over.  "The bee is Venom, also an obsessive personality.  He's programmed for psychological warfare.  Paranoiac – thinks everyone's after his job.  Gets his kicks setting people against each other.

       "We knew him back on Cybertron.  He wasn't our leader, more like our contact with the army.  But he liked to think he led us.  He kept trying to control us, and hated us because he couldn't.  He hated Shrapnel because he led the Sabocons – that's what we used to be called.  He hated Kickback because Venom couldn't read him.  He hated me the most because while we were both trained for psychological warfare, I was the one who was better at it.  Problem is, he might be better than _me_ by now."  Bombshell spread his hands in a shrug.  

       "Could he be staging all this, this?" asked Shrapnel, waving a hand at the cell walls.  "Planning to set us against his warriors, warriors?"

       "Maybe," said Bombshell.  "But probably not.  This is too physical to be just manipulation.  I think it's exactly what it looks like – a takeover.  If we're lucky, all he wants is the Hive."

       The beetle squirmed.  "And if we're unlucky, lucky?"

       "He's going to try to break us."

       Kickback walked over to the 'door' of the cell – really a force-field – and ran his fingers along it.  Little sparks crackled around his claws.  "Solid sheet – no lock to pick."

       Shrapnel ran a hand over the wall.  "A field behind the panels as well, as well," he added.  "No eating our way out, out."

       Bombshell nodded.  "It looks like we're actually stuck."

       "Woe is us, is us…"

* * *

       Venom let them stew for a while.  He was too smart to start celebrating yet, but he did want to give his captives time to appreciate the sheer hopelessness of their situation – while holding out a glimmer of hope by not posting a guard.  And while he wanted nothing more than to slowly break the former Sabocons, he knew that the longer they were alive, the more time they had to think of an escape plan.

       He gave them one hour, then sent Ransack and Chopshop to bring Bombshell to him.  The weevil was duly collected, and flung to the ground at Venom's feet.  Barrage stood slightly to one side.  Bombshell merely stood and dusted himself off.  "The bee-transform suits you, Venom"

       "You remember me.  Good.  I would have hated that you didn't know who destroyed you."

       "I know you're trying to take over the Hive because you couldn't lead the Sabocons," said Bombshell conversationally.  "The Queen will never do as you ask, and without her, the Hive is useless."

       "She will.  I have Shrapnel."

       "And if you kill him, you _won't_ have Shrapnel, and you certainly won't have Coronapis."

       "You tire me, Bombshell," said Venom.  At a signal, Ransack took the weevil by the arm and shoved him against a wall.  "And with your skills and cerebro-shells, you're too dangerous to me to let you live."

       Bombshell took a step back, but there was nowhere to go.  "Wouldn't you rather put me into some kind of fiendish death-trap and conveniently leave the room while it deals with me?"

       The bee's featureless face somehow managed an expression of disapproval.  "I know better than that.  Barrage…"

_       "Wait!"_  The longer Venom let Bombshell talk, the better chance Bombshell had of escaping.  He _was_ a psychological warfare expert, after all.

       Unfortunately, so was Venom.  "… Fire."

* * *

       Coronapis looked down from her dais, a Queen looking down on her subjects.  While ordinarily a warm creature, this day she had no reason to be friendly.  "What do you want of me?"

       Venom looked up, Barrage by his side.  "The Hive is mine.  You will serve me."

       "The Hive belongs to no one.  And I will do no such thing."

       "I have Shrapnel."

       "I have no reason to serve you.  I have less reason if you destroy him."

       The bee considered that.  "But I can hurt him, Coronapis.  I can twist his mind and his soul into knots.  I can cause him more pain than even you can heal."

       "And I," said the Queen, "will continue to refuse you."

* * *

       Sway struggled, but the guards ( a green grasshopper and a black bee ) were too strong for her, and she was unceremoniously dropped at Ransack's feet.  The dragonfly stood, but still had to look up, and her yellow eyes blazed with hatred: "What do you want?"

       "You've lasted this long because you were a worthy opponent," the locust informed her.  "But even after I defeated you, you refused to acknowledge my superiority."

       "You, hmm, beat me.  Big deal.  Mm, besides, what _was_ I supposed to do?  You knocked me out, remember?"

       "I had you repaired," Ransack reminded her.

       Lacking the ability to arch an eyebrow, Sway tilted her head in an equivalent expression.  "Which was nice of you, I suppose.  You _did_, hmm, destroy the others."

       "I bested you, but spared you.  You're mine."

       "_I'm_ mine."

       "You _will_ break," Ransack promised.  Then, turning, called, "Cutter!  Darkside!  Bring the grasshopper spy!"

       Within minutes, the guards dragged in the struggling Insecticon.  He stopped fighting abruptly: "Sway!  Baby!  You're all right!"

       "Hmm, I'll be better once we're out of here."  She aimed a kick at Ransack, but he was expecting it, and backhanded her.

       The casual brutality set Kickback to struggling again.  When Ransack got close enough, Kickback lashed out.  Impossibly, the locust took the hit and caught his foot… then brought his other elbow down on the knee-joint, shattering it.  "Leave us," Ransack instructed the guards, who dropped their prisoner and left.

       The grasshopper sank to the ground, his left leg useless, dripping a mix of hydraulic fluid and energon, and glared up at Ransack.  Ransack suddenly turned and caught Sway's wrist where she was about to tear into his back with her claws.  "Kickback has nothing to do with this," Sway hissed.  "Leave him alone."

       Ransack looked over, and casually snapped Kickback's left wing off.  He dropped it, then turned back to Sway.  "Beg me."

       "Never."  Sway slashed at the arm holding her with her free hand, but Ransack caught her, easily trapping both her wrists in one massive fist.  When she tried to kick him, he flung her across the room and into the wall, hard enough to stun her.

       The locust grabbed Kickback by the arm, hauling him to his feet with enough violence to cause stress-fractures in his armour.  There was a grinding noise as the grasshopper's arm was twisted behind his back.   "I don't see… what good… this will do you," Kickback managed.  "You know we don't feel pain."

       "I can tear you apart, and you won't feel it," agreed Ransack in a whisper.  "Intellectually, we know that.  But Sway and I aren't factory-built machines; we used to be organic.  We used to know pain.  All I need is one scream from you to make her forget that you're a robot."

       "She's stronger than you think.  So am I."

       "You take my power rectifier chip, you take my weapons, and then you, hmm, take a _hostage_?"  Sway had regained her feet and was poised to spring.  "Hrmm, if I didn't know better, I would think you were afraid of me, Ransack."

       Ransack looked over, but didn't drop Kickback.  "Nice try, but it was Venom's idea to remove your power rectifier chip – your sonic abilities don't work on me, anyway.  And I took your weapons away myself.  As for Kickback…"  Ransack gave his arm another twist, to the sound of shearing metal.  "I'll hurt him just for fun."

       Sway wanted nothing more than to attack, tear into the locust with her own claws, but stayed back.  She had no weapons, and hand-to-hand she was no match for Ransack… though maybe if she could get behind him…  Which wouldn't help Kickback any, not in the grip of that bronze monster who could snap him in half without a thought…

       As she hesitated, Kickback caught her gaze and mouthed two words – _Distract him._  She couldn't guess what Kickback in his broken condition could possibly have in mind, but sneaky plans were his job, so she went along with it.  Sway shifted to insect-mode, took to the air, then dove at Ransack.  Too slow to get out of the way, Ransack found his antennae caught in her claws, and yanked backwards.  One antenna pulled off.

       Enraged, Ransack shifted to match her, incidentally releasing Kickback.  As the locust leapt after the dragonfly, Kickback drew his rifle from subspace.  Most Insecticons didn't have personal subspace generators, so none of Venom's crew thought to remove them.  His first shot burned a gash in the locust's back.

       Ransack shifted as he fell, and managed to land on his feet.  Sway temporarily forgotten, his rage was focused solely on the grasshopper.  Unable to get away, Kickback managed to scorch Ransack's chest-armour before his rifle was caught and crushed, and he himself was pulled to what was left of his feet…

       Kickback _did_ scream then, as Ransack's hand tore into his chest-plate, seized his primary fuel-line, and yanked.  The line ruptured as it was torn from his body, splattering the two Insecticons with his energon.  Kickback didn't even get a chance to struggle – he was dead before he hit the floor.

       Irrationally, Sway tried to gather up the broken form, to see if anything could be done, but Ransack snatched it away and signalled to his guards.  Tossing Kickback's shell to Darkside, he said, "Get rid of this.  And leave the dragonfly here; let her think for a while."

* * *

       "You _killed_ Kickback!?" screeched Venom.  "You weren't supposed to kill Kickback!  You were supposed to kill Sway!"

       Ransack shrugged.  "He screamed at the end, didn't he?"

       "I wanted Kickback _broken_, not destroyed!"

       "_I_ wanted Sway broken."

       Venom might have had the psychological training, but he was the one who looked away first.  Ransack frankly terrified him.  The locust had a… blank look about him.  He wasn't stupid, but Venom had the irrational thought that no soul looked out from behind the red optic band.

* * *

       Coronapis smirked when Venom entered the chamber.  "You look despondent.  Your little uprising not working out?"

       "Good help is hard to find," he agreed.  "Ransack wasn't _supposed_ to terminate Kickback…"  To his disappointment, the Queen merely looked grim rather than crumpling.  "I had plans for the warrior.  Needless to say, I'm not in a good mood.  I've decided to take it out on Shrapnel.  It's been a while since I last performed an interrogation, and while I haven't any questions today, there's a few techniques I've been waiting to try…"

       To her credit, the Queen didn't flinch, even when Barrage and Chopshop dragged Shrapnel in and pinned him on the floor.  Venom opened the panel on Shrapnel's midsection, and moved aside lines and cables to find what he wanted – the beetle's spark, now unprotected.  Experimentally, he touched a micro-laser to it…

       Shrapnel screamed, and with some surprise, Venom realised Coronapis echoed it.  He turned to the Queen: "So, Insecticons bond like Transformers proper.  I didn't expect it.  How… touching.  How fortunate."

       "My people are free and will remain so!" shouted Coronapis before doubling over in pain again.  It wasn't a true physical agony, but there was no other way to express it, and if it wasn't expressed, the sheer intensity could cause an overload.

       When he tired of it, Venom left Shrapnel where he was.  After severing the motor-relays in his legs, of course.

* * *

       _I'll kill him,_ Sway thought.  _I don't care how or how long it takes.  I just need to get close enough, just a few seconds to tear through his armour…_  Ransack's guards had come for her again, and were presumably taking her to him.  _I could pretend acquiescence, perhaps…  No, I couldn't…_

       "That's far enough."

       Bombshell dropped from the shadows in front of Darkside.  She took a surprised step back… and Cutter grabbed the bee, jabbing something into her neck.  "Paralytic compound," explained Bombshell quickly.  "Slows the rate of energon absorption and knocks them out."

       "I'm trusting you on that," said Cutter darkly.

       Sway look another look at Cutter: He was a deep green coleop Insecticon, tall, with a yellow visor and copper highlights… but his _voice_…  "_Kickback!_  But you…"

       He was a grasshopper, and the physical similarity ended there.  Nevertheless, the quick smile he flashed to Sway was pure Kickback.  "Explanations later, beautiful.  Care to give us a hand, or would you rather wait to be rescued?"

       Her hands were tied, and Sway half-shifted so her now-insectoid mouth could bite through the chain.  Darkside's weapons were a type of short spear Sway wasn't proficient with, but she took them anyway.  "Hrmm, for that crack I'll come back to knock _you_ around once we've dealt with Venom's gang.  What's the plan?"

       Bombshell's optics flashed dangerously.  "I don't know where Shrapnel is, so we're outnumbered by one.  But we _do_ have the element of surprise…"

       "I don't care if it's my function; I'm tired of sneaking," said Kickback.

* * *

       Cutter burst into the laboratory where Venom was working, with Barrage and Chopshop engaged in their own tasks.  "Quickly!  Call Ransack!  The prisoner has escaped!"

       "I will track the…" started Barrage.

       "You won't; you cause too much property damage," countered Venom, activating his communicator.  "Which prisoner?  Sway, I assume?"

       A section of the ceiling crumbled, eaten away from the floor above.  "Her, too," agreed Bombshell, as both weevil and dragonfly landed in the room.

       _"I had you executed!"_ yelled Venom.  "Your pieces weren't big enough for scrap!"

       "I got better."

       Barrage brought his weapons in-line with Bombshell, but was tackled by Cutter.  "I'm supposed to be dead, too," he added helpfully, in his proper voice.  Barrage used Kickback's brief inattention to club him with the butt of his sonic-rifle.

       Sway and Chopshop were engaged in a lightning-swift pattern of attack and dodge, a complicated dance of flashing blades.  Neither had scored a hit yet; they were too evenly-matched and too agile for hand-weapons.

       Kickback tried to stab Barrage to inject him with the paralytic compound, but the beetle was too heavily-armoured for the hollow blade, which shattered.  Barrage had already lost his rifle in the fight, but he was far from unarmed.  And since the grasshopper was right in front of him, it left him wide open to the turrets mounted on his chest…

       The sound of the door opening caught Kickback's attention, and he swivelled quickly to face the newcomer…  Which incidentally saved him from the round of Barrage's explosive charges.  They impacted the door, the force of the explosion knocking Ransack off his feet.  Unmindful of the distinctions between friend and foe, the locust's first act was to pull Barrage away from Kickback, and slam him into the floor.

       The grasshopper quickly rolled to his feet.  "That was convenient.  I've got a little score to settle with you, Ransack."

       "Cutter?"  It took him a second to recognise the voice, but when he did, Ransack looked unimpressed.  "I get it: 'Kickback.'  'Cut.'  'Cutter.'  Real cute."

       "I'm not the nicest guy in the world.  I've got a reputation for using people."  Kickback shrugged.  "And I do it – I'm a spy; it's my function.  That being said, I don't have a lot of friends.  Not real ones.  So I get a bit protective of the ones I _do_ have."

       Ransack settled into a battle-ready stance.  "You got a point to this?"

       "You hurt Sway.  And I don't like bullies."

       The locust charged.  Kickback managed to dodge the first few attacks, but he couldn't keep it up forever.  Unarmed, he didn't stand a chance against the other warrior.  It was just a matter of time before he slipped or Ransack got lucky…

       Ransack's arm lashed out, and sent the grasshopper sprawling.  Ransack put a knee on Kickback's chest, and settled his hands around his throat.  It wouldn't suffocate him, but it would crush some delicate machinery.  Still, Kickback smiled.  "You've forgotten something, Ransack."

       "Lemme guess – 'Look out behind you'?"

       The locust bellowed as something sank into his back.  "Hmm, no, you don't _have_ to look…"

       Ransack reared back, lashing out at Sway, who had already stepped out of range.  Kickback used the warrior's confusion to kick him away.

       Chopshop limped over to where Ransack had thrown Barrage.  The scarab was slowly picking himself up.  "Who cares what Venom says?  We should grab Ransack and retreat."

       The scarab looked unimpressed.  "I haven't finished with Bombshell.  I destroyed him.  He should have _stayed_ destroyed!"

       "Catch."

       Automatically, Barrage caught the heavy metal ball.  A second later, it exploded into hundreds of shards, lodging in his exoskeleton and cutting his hands to ribbons.  It wasn't fatal, but it did take him out of the fight, and he would be picking metal bits out of his armour for weeks.  Chopshop dragged him out into the hall, then went back for Ransack.

       Not that the others were paying any attention.  Hearing the familiar sound of the grenade, Kickback looked over.  "Shrapnel!"

       "Me!" announced Shrapnel happily.  "Not that it looks like you three need much help, help."

       Sway used the chance Venom's surprise gave him to knock him to the floor, pinning one of his arms.  Bombshell sat on the other.  The bee didn't seem to notice.  "And _you_ I left broken in Coronapis' chamber!  _Why can't you insects stay dead!?_"

       "Oh, phoo, I was just damaged," said Shrapnel.  "And Coronapis has actual mechanical skills along with her powers, powers."

       "_I_ didn't die," said Kickback.  "You remember dying, Bombshell?"

       "Uh-uh."

       Venom's light veneer of control was developing wide cracks.  "I still control the Swarm!  The Insecticons are still mine, as the Sabocons should have been!"

       "I'm not the psychology expert, but he sounds paranoid to me, to me."

       "You misunderstand, Shrapnel."  If Bombshell had a mouth, he would have been grinning madly.  "He's not paranoid; I really _was_ out to get him."  He settled his attention back on the bee: "Now then, how is the Swarm controlled?"

       "He controls it," said Kickback with a vicious smile.  "There might be a relay somewhere else, or whatever machine produces them, but I'm sure he'll have some kind of mental control.  Shrapnel?.."

       Shrapnel knelt by Venom, letting his senses flow over the other Insecticon.  After a few minutes, he removed a small component from somewhere in the bee's chest.  "It's this, this.  At least I think it is; it's not part of typical Insecticon machinery…"

       His words cut off in a shriek when Venom drove a spike in his knee into the beetle's midsection.  Bombshell automatically moved to help Shrapnel, and Venom used to opportunity to throw Sway off and make good his own escape.  The grasshopper made to follow, but was stopped by Bombshell: "Let him go!"

       "They're _all_ getting away!"

       "Shrapnel needs help _now_," snapped the weevil, hand covered with the energon that was flowing freely from Shrapnel's wound.  "Venom poisoned him; some kind of toxin in his energon stream.  He needs a full transfusion _now_."

       Kickback stopped for an instant, his desire for revenge warring with his instinct to protect his friend.  "I'll bring the transfer equipment – I know what it…  Oh, _slag!_  Bombshell, we _eat_!  The Hive runs on solar power!  We don't _use_ energon!  We haven't _got_ any!"

       "We _do_ – inside ourselves!  Remember?" Bombshell said.  "Get the equipment and meet us in Coronapis' chamber. Sway, help me with Shrapnel!"

       As Kickback took off towards the repair bay, Bombshell and Sway managed to carry Shrapnel down the passageway to the Queen's hall.  Coronapis gathered Shrapnel into her arms as soon as she could reach him.  Bombshell stepped back.  "He's been poisoned.  I have to completely drain his fuel.  Can you keep him functioning in those circumstances?"

       "I'll try."

* * *

       By the time Kickback returned, the chamber was awash with colour: The air was golden with the Queen's power, and the floor was stained with Shrapnel's energon.  Bombshell waved him over.  "Don't slip.  There was no time to be tidy; I had to get the poison out of his system immediately."  If he didn't know what it was, Kickback wouldn't have recognised it.  Ordinarily a glowing pink, the energon drained from Shrapnel was a flat colour, veined with greenish-blue streaks.

       Carefully avoiding the mess, Kickback brought the transfer equipment up the dais.  Bombshell immediately hooked it up to Shrapnel, forcing a cleaning solution through his fuel-line.  The fluid came out faintly coloured, then clear as the last of the poison was flushed from the beetle's system.  Once he was satisfied that the line was clean, Bombshell nodded to Sway and Kickback, who in turn allowed him to drain part of their energon into Shrapnel.

       Finally Bombshell said, "That's enough, Coronapis.  Let's see if this takes."

       The golden shimmer faded, and the four Insecticons waited a few tense minutes for the fifth to reactivate.  Finally, Shrapnel twitched a bit and tried to look around, but his system hadn't yet absorbed enough energy for more than that.  From somewhere he couldn't see, he heard Kickback say tiredly, "The traditional thing to say upon regaining consciousness is, 'Where am I?'"  Then, with a bit of mischief in his voice, "Or, 'Do it again.'"

       "I'd rather not, not," muttered Shrapnel, allowing Bombshell and Coronapis to pull him into a sitting position.  "I feel yucky.  You don't look so hot yourself, self."

       Kickback – in his slightly torn-up 'Cutter' form, leaning against Sway for support ( though it might have been the other way around ) – managed a grin.  "If you're just going to waste it on insults, I want my energon back."

       "If you're fine then, Shrapnel, hmm, I'm hungry," said Sway.  "Come on, Kickback."  Still leaning on each other, they left.

       "I just noticed…  I'm taller than you in this form."

_       "Mm, the bigger they are, cutie…"_

       Bombshell watched them leave and shook his head.  Shrapnel smirked.  "Let them have their fun, fun.  We'll keep them busy enough once they've recharged – it _is_ just us five who aren't infected by the Swarm, swarm."

       "The Insecticons won't know what to do without Venom to guide them," said Bombshell.  "We should start clearing it out of the workers first, so they can help with the clean-up.  You up to it, Shrapnel?"

       "If we stop for a snack along the way, the way."

       The two said their good-byes to Coronapis, and started down the stairs, when Bombshell remembered what he was stepping in.  "Nuts.  We should clean up this mess…"

       "Later," said Coronapis.  "First help our people."

* * *

       Kickback shifted back to his robot-mode and sat on the stump of the tree he had been eating.  "Feeling better now?"

       "Mm, physically."  The dragonfly dropped from the next tree over, shifted, and landed as Sway.  Her tail swished behind her as she walked over to her friend.  "Mentally I'm not so pleased.  Hrmm, you let me think you were dead, you ingrate!"

       Kickback grinned.  "You kicked up quite a fuss, too.  I'm flattered."

       Sway shoved him.  "Going to be, hmm, flattened in a minute…"

       The grasshopper got up and danced out of range.  "We couldn't let you know; Venom would have known you were faking your grief."

       "But if you were destroyed…"

       "I was, sort of," said Kickback.  "Ransack _did_ destroy my body.  See, Venom and his cohorts knew about Shrapnel's powers, but didn't count on how adept he was at using them.  He zapped the video camera to show a loop of us not doing anything interesting, and while that was happening, Shrapnel made a clone of Bombshell.  Bombshell put a cerebro-shell in his clone so he could control it to act like him, and we all donated some of our own energon so it would bleed.  We knew Venom was going to execute him, and we knew he'd probably get Barrage to do it to make sure he was really dead.  Given the condition of Barrage's victims, there wouldn't be enough left of the clone to prove it was a clone at all."

       Kickback paused, gathering his thoughts.  "We knew Venom couldn't kill Shrapnel.  If he did, Coronapis would never help him.  But _I_ was expendable; if they were going to make an example out of anyone, it would be me.  Since torture can be a long, messy business, a clone would be revealed as such.  So Bombshell removed my mind from my body and replaced it with a cerebro-shell.  Then Shrapnel lowered the force-field, let Bombshell escape, then set all the equipment back to normal.  Later Bombshell snuck down to the lab and put me in this body – Venom and crew thought we were dead, so we were able to sneak around easily… especially since I looked like just another coleop.  I didn't find it enjoyable watching Ransack tear into my shell, I assure you."

       The dragonfly hummed a bit, considering.  "Why did Shrapnel stay behind?"

       "Three fakes would have been easy to spot; Bombshell can only do his direct-control trick on one target at a time, and someone had to do the talking.  And, remember, Venom couldn't kill him."  Kickback looked down at himself and smiled slightly.  "I'm having Bombshell remake my proper body as soon as he gets a chance.  Green isn't really my colour."

       His smile faded as he paused, caught her shoulder, then let his hand fall back.  "I _am_ sorry.  I didn't want to use you against Venom like that…  I didn't want to hurt you, but they would have known if…"

       "You're alive, Kickback.  That's what matters."

       "It doesn't balance out."  Suddenly, Kickback's face twisted, and he collapsed into Sway's arms.  "I don't know who I am any more!  I was Kickback the Insecticon, but now I have these… memories of being something else!"

       Sway held him, but made no other move.  "Do you, hmm, want to know?"

       "Yes.  No.  I don't know," muttered Kickback.  "Bombshell thinks I'm deliberately blocking, because I used to have a companion and he's dead.  He thinks I block so I won't be hurt…  Idiot.  I get hurt anyway.  I just don't let _him_ see it."

       He allowed himself to be held for a few minutes, vulnerable but protected, then stepped back and shifted to insect-mode.  "Come on.  We've got a lot of work to do."

* * *

       Bombshell tossed the compad on the table with an overly-dramatic sigh.  "There is no rest for the weevil."

       "Pfah, pfah.  You've got me hopping around so much cleaning out what's left of the Swarm that I'm feeling like Kickback, kickback," teased Shrapnel, lounging in a chair with one leg draped over the arm.  It was six days since Venom and his cohorts escaped, and most of the mess was finally cleaned up.

       Shrapnel felt a hand settle on one of his spines as a voice teased, "And with all this work, you've still found time to hang about complaining."

       Had the chair not been bolted down, Shrapnel probably would have fallen out of it.  Instead, he reached back and grabbed the speaker's arm to pull her into view.  Coronapis tumbled into Shrapnel's lap with a laugh and a clatter.  "Even Bombshell found time to help _me_, beloved," she said happily.  "You just don't know how to manage your time."

       "She wanted a mobile form," said Bombshell by way of explanation, when it was obvious that Shrapnel was, for once in his life, speechless.  "She doesn't have her powers – she has to be plugged into the ship to use them – and she can't transform, but…  Oh, get a room."

       "This _is_ a room, room," said Shrapnel primly.

       The door swished open, admitting Kickback.  "My people just caught Thornsharp and Lash – that's the last of the stragglers.  They'll get back here in another two hours or so."  He nodded slightly to Coronapis; he knew of her and Bombshell's little project.

       "Hmph.  More work for me, for me," said Shrapnel, who, in theory, should have sounded annoyed, but couldn't manage it at the moment.

       "Not much," Coronapis reminded him.  "Then you'll be free to show me around Coleop."

       "I'm starting to regret your mobile form – now Shrapnel will _never_ do anything," teased Bombshell.  Then: "Kickback, have your people found any sign of Venom or his cohorts?"

       Kickback shook his head.  "None.  They could be anywhere on Coleop by now."

       Then, before anyone could react, Kickback's fist lashed out and caught Bombshell in the jaw, knocking the smaller Insecticon sprawling.  Shrapnel and Coronapis got up to restrain the grasshopper, but Kickback made no further move.  The weevil ran his fingers along his jaw to check for dents and, in a maddeningly even tone, he inquired, "Better?"

       "A bit," snarled Kickback.  He would have preferred to catch Bombshell alone, but the weevil was in the thick of things, and Kickback couldn't hold back any longer.  "We could have dealt with Venom another way, but _you_ wanted to show him up.  _You_ couldn't just defeat him, you had to _humiliate_ him.  And if that meant tagging me with a cerebro-shell, running around in my mind, letting me _watch_ myself die, and… and… using…"

       _"Say it,"_ commanded Bombshell.

       "_Sway was almost killed!_  The only reason she _wasn't_ was because Ransack wanted her!  If he had obeyed Venom's orders…"

       Long moments passed before the grasshopper slumped slightly, drained.  "How much of this did you plan, Bombshell?  All the memories you ran through…  I can _remember_ them now; Tumult and Venom and… and Rebound."  His voice sharpened abruptly: "How much of a prize was I, Bombshell?  You went through me, turned me inside-out… something Venom never managed to do.  He'll never know, of course, but _you_ do.  _Was it worth it?_"

       "I needed to get the information on Venom, you idiot!" snapped Bombshell.  "Anything that happened to you… it _wouldn't_ have if you weren't so blasted paranoid about your privacy!  For goodness sakes, everyone knows you and Sway are close, even if you try to deny it for some stupid reason.  And everything I picked up about your past I would have known even if I only had my _own_ memories to work with!"

       "It's true, true," said Shrapnel quietly.  "I remembered…"

       "_I_ remembered," Coronapis amended.

       Bombshell allowed himself a brief sidetrack: "Ah, so you _are_ bonded."

       The beetle drew himself up haughtily.  "She tried to bite my head off.  I had to make an honest being out of her, of her."  The proud stance couldn't last, especially when Coronapis elbowed him.  Shrapnel chuckled and brought the conversation back on track: "I'm surprised you didn't recognise Rebound when you and Bombshell found his and Tumult's shells in the old escape pod sixteen years ago, Kickback, kickback.  I mean, he _was_ your…"

       The door swished shut on the end of Shrapnel's sentence, leaving him watching it sadly.  "… Your," sighed Shrapnel out of habit.  Then, "It's only his past, and pleasant memories at that, at that," he said sulkily.

       "Rebound was crushed beyond recognition, to answer your first question," said Bombshell.  "The other one was Tumult, so the unidentifiable one must have been Rebound.  It wasn't enough to trigger his memory then."

       "But how did he _forget_ in the first place, place?" wailed Shrapnel.  "Rebound was his _companion_!  Your soul doesn't forget, forget!"

       The weevil shook his head.  "You're a romantic sometimes, Shrapnel.  You know him; Kickback always _could_ shut his emotions off at will – even Venom or I couldn't read him when he didn't want us to.  He locked the part of himself that was Rebound away so completely that he forgot him.  And he was happier that way."  Bombshell sighed.  "At least, he'll tell you that if you ask him."

       "What now?" asked Coronapis.  A creature of love and life, she hated her people to be in pain.

       "I'm… going to leave him alone," said Bombshell eventually.

       **_The End._**


End file.
